Systems and Methods for Messaging to Multiple Gateways

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods for providing message communication among multiple communication gateways. In particular, systems and methods for providing non-voice message delivery to intended recipients with increased speed and reliability to multiple users on multiple platforms. The systems and methods relate to non-voice messaging to multiple messaging gateways. In at least one embodiment, the systems and methods include Internet based electronic messaging using a messaging subsystem configured to optimize text message delivery to communication gateways.

This patent application is a continuation of and claims priority under35 U.S.C. §120 to U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/214,906 filed Jun.23, 2008; which is a divisional of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/829,181 filed Apr. 22, 2004; which claims priority to U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/320,133, filed Apr. 22, 2003, and U.S.Provisional Application No. 60/514,873, filed Oct. 29, 2003. Thecomplete disclosure of the above-identified priority application ishereby fully incorporated herein by reference.

This disclosure contains information subject to copyright protection.The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction byanyone of the patent disclosure or the patent as it appears in the U.S.Patent and Trademark Office files or records, but otherwise reserves allcopyright rights whatsoever.

BACKGROUND

1. Field of Invention

The present invention relates to the field of communications and, morespecifically, to methods and systems for transmitting and receivingmessages.

2. Description of Related Art

In today's world, information exchanges between people in many ways. Inthat regard, numerous types of communication systems exist for thispurpose, including, for example, radio, television, cable, internet,two-way radio, cellular telephone systems, LANS, WANS, and opticalcommunication systems. Advances in technology enable the distribution ofinformation faster and more efficiently than was possible just severalyears ago. Some information is trivial, while other information can becritical and needs to travel immediately to the recipients.

In responding to emergency situations, the need for particularinformation relating to the emergency is sorely acute. Such emergencyrelated information may include a threat of a disastrous event,terrorism induced threats and events, location and description of theevent, evacuation instructions and status, and the status andcoordination of the response to the threat or event. This information isinvaluable to government and private agencies responsible forpreventing, assessing, and responding to such events, and also by thoseon the front lines that are present at such an event and are dealingwith it directly (e.g., “first responders” such as police, fire andrescue, emergency medical personnel). Fast and reliable dissemination ofemergency information to emergency response personnel is necessary inorder for the emergency to be contained and neutralized with minimalloss of life in terms of both emergency personnel and the generalpopulation.

Therefore, systems have been deployed to assist emergency personnel andresponsible agencies in disseminating emergency alerting messages andnotifications to emergency response personnel. However, such existingsystems are notoriously slow and unreliable. Furthermore, many of thesesystems lack any practical confirmation mechanism from which the alertoriginator can ascertain whether or not a sufficient response team hasbeen assembled or dispatched. For example, many agencies at all levelsof government may employ a telephone based auto-dialer system in whichemergency response personnel are contacted by telephone individuallyseriatim. Such systems may include, for example, a human dispatcher whosimply begins contacting, one at a time, individual members of anemergency response team by dialing the emergency contact telephonenumber for each team member whose name appears on a predefined listcorresponding to the type of threat or emergency. Alternatively,multiple operators may dial emergency personnel in parallel, or acomputer-based auto-dialer may be used in which a voice message isplayed over the telephone to the answerer. Such systems and methods areplagued with limitations and inefficiencies, not the least of which isthe slow speed at which a response team can be contacted and assembled,and provided with relevant information concerning the emergency. Forexample, telephone based auto-dialers typically contact emergencyresponse personnel one-at-a-time, resulting in a slow notificationprocess. Even in the case in which multiple dispatchers or auto-dialersare used, coordination problems may ensue in tracking which personnelhave been reached and given positive confirmation of their response. Forcomputer-assisted auto-dialers, the voice mail message played to anindividual may not provide significant information specific to theemergency and, further, may not be customizable to include importantinformation concerning the particular nature of the threat or eventleading to the emergency situation.

Over and above all of these limitations, all voice-based existingsystems and methods depend on the reliability and availability of thetelephone service in providing emergency message notification.Unfortunately, both land line based and mobile telephone communicationare vulnerable in times of emergency, in terms of both reliability andavailability. Because telecommunication systems are designed toaccommodate a statistical average number of voice users having aparticular call duration (e.g., commonly modeled using the Erlangprobability density function), voice circuits may become saturated oroverloaded in an emergency situation in which many callers areattempting to connect using the voice carrying network. Wirelessvoice-based communications systems such as cellular telephone systemsand their digital counterparts are also susceptible to overloading dueto bandwidth limitations of and shared access to the radio channel.These situations occurred in certain metropolitan areas during theevents of Sep. 11, 2001.

First responders may also use one or more radio-based systems forcoordination and status of response activities, typically at the site ofthe emergency. Such radio systems may be simplex systems (i.e., one-wayvoice traffic only) and have a limited number of frequency channels forcommunications. In addition, different agencies and teams typically usedifferent frequency channels, radios, and/or air interface technologiesand modulation techniques (e.g, Single Side Band (SSB), Very HighFrequency (VHF), spread spectrum). Thus, coordination among multiplegovernment agencies responding to a large scale event is problematic, ifpossible at all. The current situation engenders at least confusion andinefficiency for those responding to emergencies and, of most concern,the potential for additional loss of human life.

Thus, there is a need for reliable and fast communication systems andmethods that overcome these limitations of voice-based communicationsfor disseminating alerts and notifications that may be, for example,associated with emergency prevention and response.

SUMMARY

The present invention is directed generally to providing systems andmethods for communication among multiple communication gateways.Furthermore, embodiments may provide non-voice message delivery tointended recipients with increased speed and reliability. Embodimentsmay also provide efficient and user-friendly systems and methods fornon-voice messaging to multiple users on multiple platforms. Inparticular, the advent of consumer wireless devices has provided apowerful, but underutilized, communication infrastructure. Many suchdevices may be included in an overall strategy to place vitalinformation quickly and reliably to many recipients.

More specifically, the systems and methods may relate to non-voicemessaging to multiple messaging gateways, and, in at least oneembodiment, to messaging using channels configured for data or controltraffic. Embodiments may also include a packet-based electronicmessaging application that may include a process for optimizing textmessage delivery to electronic mail and SMS (or “text-messaging”)gateways. For example, in an embodiment, methods and systems may beprovided for Internet based electronic messaging to multiple messaginggateways. Embodiments may include an Internet based messagingapplication that incorporates a process for optimizing message deliveryto electronic mail and Short Message Service (SMS), or “text-messaging”gateways. Embodiments may also include message delivery using pagersystems. The systems and methods may be device and carrier agnostic andconform to industry Internet and wireless standards allowing it to workwith existing carriers and equipment. Embodiments may provide reliableand fast alert delivery, simple web-browser based management, and anetworking option for forming messaging coalitions forcross-jurisdictional message sharing that supports agencyinteroperability. Embodiments may also include easy interfacing withexisting emergency-management infrastructure to provide flexible andimproved message distribution within and across organizationalboundaries.

Still further aspects included for various embodiments are apparent toone skilled in the art based on the study of the following disclosureand the accompanying drawings thereto.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The utility, objects, features and advantages of the invention will bereadily appreciated and understood from consideration of the followingdetailed description of the embodiments of this invention, when takenwith the accompanying drawings, in which same numbered elements areidentical and:

FIG. 1 is a top level system block diagram of a system according to atleast one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of message groups associated with multiplemessaging subsystems according to an embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a messaging subsystem accordingto at least one embodiment;

FIG. 4 is an example group membership interactive page according to atleast one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is an example of a Graphical User Interface (GUI) interactivepage for configuring remote user messaging groups according at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 6 is an example of a GUI for an alert tracking interactive pageaccording to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of one embodiment of a computingplatform;

FIGS. 8 a and 8 b are an example of a GUI for a registration interactivepage according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 9 is an example of a grid illustrating cross-jurisdictionalmessaging for emergency management according to at least one embodiment;

FIG. 10 is an example of a GUI for a management console interactive pageaccording to at least one embodiment, including one or more quick alerticons;

FIGS. 11 a and 11 b are example interactive report pages according to atleast one embodiment;

FIG. 12 is a flow chart of a method according to at least oneembodiment;

FIG. 13 is a flow chart showing further detail regarding registration ofusers according to an embodiment;

FIG. 14 is a graphical illustration of message transfer according to atleast one embodiment;

FIG. 15 is a flow chart showing further detail regarding determining aset of receiving users according to an embodiment;

FIG. 16 is a flow chart showing further detail regarding converting analert message to a gateway message according to an embodiment;

FIG. 17 is an example of a GUI for an interactive delivery channels pageaccording to at least one embodiment;

FIGS. 18 a through 18 c are flow charts of a detailed messaging methodaccording to an embodiment; and

FIG. 19 is a flow chart of a method of response tracking according to atleast one embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention is directed generally to providing systems andmethods for non-voice based communication. For example, the methods andsystems may relate to Internet based electronic messaging to multiplemessaging gateways. In at least one embodiment, the systems and methodsmay include an Internet based messaging application having a process foroptimizing text message delivery to one or more communication gatewayssuch as, for example, electronic mail and SMS (or “text-messaging”)gateways.

In particular, exemplary embodiments may include standards-based systemsand methods that provide emergency communications to text messageenabled appliances such as, but not limited to, wireless devices andother such e-mail addressable delivery points. Such embodiments therebycombine the inherent redundancy of communication networks such as, forexample, the Internet with delivery to multiple devices per user toprovide a high delivery success rate that persists even in the case ofbreakdowns within or overloading of public communicationinfrastructures.

At least one embodiment of a communication system 100 according to thepresent invention may be as shown in FIG. 1. Referring to FIG. 1, thecommunication system 100 may include at least one messaging subsystem101. The messaging subsystem 101 may be coupled to an alert originator102 via a network 103 and one or more communication gateways 104 via anetwork 106. Each communication gateway 104 may be coupled to one ormore user terminals 105 via a network 107. Further, in an embodiment,the system 100 may include more than one messaging subsystem 101 (e.g.,up to “n” such subsystems as shown in FIG. 1). In such embodiments, oneor more of the messaging subsystems 101 may be coupled to each otherusing a network 108.

The alert originator 102 may be a communications enabled terminalprovided in communication with the messaging subsystem 101 via thenetwork 103. For example, the alert originator 102 may be a personalcomputer having a network connection, such as a dial-up modem connectionto a network. In such embodiments, the network 103 may be apacket-switched network such as, for example, the Internet. In someembodiments, the alert originator 102 may include an electronic mailapplication for receiving electronic mail messages in accordance with,for example, the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). Further, thealert originator 102 may include a web browser capable of transmittingand receiving and displaying information in accordance with theHyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) using the network 103. The alertoriginator 102 may send a first message, such as an alert message, tothe messaging subsystem 101 via the network 103 in the form of anelectronic message such as, for example, an SMTP electronic message, anHTML or XML message, or an SMS message from the wireless device.Further, in an embodiment the alert originator 102 may be a remotesensor or a sensor monitoring device or system that automaticallygenerates a message to the messaging subsystem 101 in response to theoccurrence of a conditional event (e.g., flood gates opened at a dam).In an embodiment, a message or alert generated by a remote alertoriginator 102 (including, for example, an automated process), the alertoriginator 102 may provide an identifier (e.g., for authentication), theintended target recipients of the message/alert, and the content of themessage/alert. In an embodiment, the originator identification may beprovided in the form of a Personal Identification Number (PIN) code. Inat least one embodiment, the messaging subsystem 101 may only providemessaging for authorized senders or alert originators 102.

In an embodiment, the communication gateway 104 may be an access pointfor a communication network 107 that provides communication services fora plurality of user terminals 105. For example, the communicationnetwork 107 may be a landline based network such as the Public SwitchedTelecommunications Network (PSTN). In an embodiment, the network 107 maybe a wireless telecommunications network such as a cellular serviceprovider or a Personal Communications Services (PCS) service provider.Such networks 107 may be, for example, but not limited to, based on theGlobal System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Code Division MultipleAccess (CDMA) such as the system described in Interim Standard (IS)-95for digital cellular radio systems, IS-54 dual mode analog and digitalcellular telephone service, IS-54B digital Time Division Multiple Access(TDMA) cellular telephone service, IS-41 based Advanced Mobile PhoneService (AMPS, or “analog”) telephone service, IS-136 Digital AMPStelephone service, or other standards-based telecommunication system,paging networks, Blackberry™ networks, or a variation or combinationthereof.

The networks 107 may include a control channel, a channel for datatraffic, or both, separate and distinct from the voice traffic bearingchannel or channels. For example, the GSM series of standards includes aShort Message Service (SMS) channel useful for sending text basedmessages. Furthermore, telecommunications services providers commonlyutilize out-of-band signaling, such as the signaling based on SignalingSystem No. 7 (SS7), in order to maximize the voice traffic capacity andavailability of the bearer channel. Other telecommunications servicesstandards include separate channels for slow signaling or for data-onlytraffic. In all such schemes, the data or control traffic may be routedand transferred throughout the network 107 using communication channelsthat are separate from voice traffic channels. Such arrangements mayprevent data traffic from adversely impacting the voice traffic capacityof the network 107. The inventors of the present invention havediscovered that this separation of data/control channels from voicetraffic channels may have advantages for reliably and quicklytransmitting and receiving text messages via the data or controlchannels in situations in which voice channels or circuits areoverloaded, overutilized, or otherwise unavailable to a user. Thus,embodiments may allow messages to be delivered to first responders,coordinators, and other emergency response personnel reliably andquickly, preventing loss of life and property.

In at least one embodiment, the terminal 105 may be a cellulartelephone, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA), a Personal Computer (PC)such as a PC workstation, mobile PC or laptop PC, or a tablet PC, aBlackberry™ device, a pager, a Wi-Fi device, a Bluetooth™ enableddevice, a radio receiver, or any other such wireless or wired terminalcapable of receiving non-voice communications. In an embodiment, theterminal 105 may include a text message application for receiving anddisplaying non-voice messages using a display on the terminal 105 viathe network 107. Alternatively, the terminal 105 may be coupled to aremote output device for,output of a non-voice message for review by auser of the terminal 105. In some embodiments, the terminal 105 mayinclude an electronic mail application for receiving electronic mailmessages in accordance with, for example, the Post Office Protocol(POP/POP3).

Still further, the terminal 105 may include a web browser capable oftransmitting and receiving and displaying information in accordance withthe HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP) using the network 107. In atleast one embodiment, the user terminal 105 may be, for example, aweb-enabled personal computer provided with the capability to receiveand display graphical user interfaces included on, for example,HyperText Markup Language (HTML) formatted or Extensible HyperTextMarkup Language (XML) formatted pages, private network (e.g., intranet)pages, etc., provided in accordance with, for example, HyperTextTransport Protocol (HTTP) as well as the capability to transmit andreceive electronic mail messages in accordance with Simple MailTransport Protocol (SMTP). In at least one embodiment, the terminal 105may be in general any device capable of receiving electronic mail(“email”) or paging messages such as pagers, cell phones, PDAs, and thelike. For pagers, the messaging subsystem 101 may support many differentpaging protocols such as, for example, but not limited to, WirelessCommunication Transport Protocol (WCTP), Post Office CodeStandardisation Advisory Group (POCSAG) (various baud rates), Flexiblewide-area synchronous protocol (FLEX™), Golay sequential coding,Telocator Alphanumeric Protocol (TAP) (e.g., version 1.8), and COMP(COMP1 and COMP2). Furthermore, the messaging subsystem 101 may supportdelivery of messages to terminals 105 configured to accept and outputinstant messages. For example, the messaging subsystem 101 may supportterminals 105 that use a popup message output such as the WiredRedinstant messaging protocol using WiredRed Software of San Diego, Calif.,or the Computer Emergency Notification System (CENS) used by, forexample, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), furtherinformation regarding which is available from the USDA NationalInformation Technology Center of Washington, D.C. Still further, theterminal 105 may be another device or system capable of displayingmessage or alert information such as, for example, but not limited to,an electronic highway sign, AMBER alert sign. In addition, the terminal105 may be or include a siren or other device capable of providing anaudible or visual output in response to receiving a message or alertfrom the messaging subsystem 101. Further, the messaging subsystem 101may re-send messages or alerts to other systems (e.g., external tosystem 100) for distribution to users or other systems. This is not anexhaustive list of the terminals 105 for which the messaging subsystem101 may be configured to support for messaging, but is provided hereinas an example of the breadth of output means supported for messagedelivery by the messaging subsystem. In at least one embodiment, themessaging subsystem 101 may be configured to output one or more secondmessages or alerts to one or more of these terminals 105. The messagingsubsystem 101 may be included in a system 100 that provides messageprocessing and transfer as described herein.

In operation, referring to FIG. 1, the messaging subsystem 101 may causemessages, such as the second messages, to be sent to one or more of theuser terminals 105 such as, for example, cell phones and pagers, via oneor more of the gateways 104 using a non-voice traffic channel of thecommunication network 107. In at least one embodiment, a message may betransferred to one or more terminals 105 using an SMS channel of a GSMbased wireless communication network 107. Furthermore, a message may betransferred to one or more terminals 105 using a paging network 107.Alternatively, a message may be transferred to one or more terminals 105using a control channel of the communication network 107. In anembodiment, the network 106 may be a packet-based network having alogical termination at the gateway 104. For example, the network 106 maybe a Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) networksuch as, for example, the Internet, for which the gateway 104 is adestination IP socket for receiving non-voice based information, ormessages, ultimately destined for one or more terminals 105 served bythe network 107. Message delivery to the user terminal 105 may beaccomplished with high reliability because the non-voice channel bearingthe message remains available in the event that the voice channel issaturated or otherwise not accessible for completing a voice call.

Furthermore, the user terminal 105 may provide a confirmation to themessaging subsystem 101 via the network 106 signifying that thenotification information contained in the gateway message has beenreceived by particular user terminals 105. In at least one embodiment,the messaging subsystem 101 may provide reply tracking as describedherein to inform the alert originator 102, as a minimum, of thesuccessful dissemination of a message such as an alert message.Furthermore, messaging subsystem 101 may collect the status ofindividual replies and report the status to the alert originator 102 toassist emergency personnel in responding to an emergency or potentialemergency situation.

In at least one embodiment, the networks 103, 106, and 108 may be apublic network such as the Internet. However, communications systemsused to implement the networks 103, 106, and 108 may include, but arenot limited to, telephone landline based modem or a wireless networksuch as a cellular digital packet data (CDPD) network or a wirelesslocal area network (LAN) provided in accordance with, for example, theIEEE 802.11 standard.

In at least one embodiment, the messaging subsystem 101 may use thenetworks 107 of different carriers to deliver text messages to userterminals 105 including, but not limited to, pagers, wireless PDAs, cellphones, IP-based phones (e.g., voice over IP), and satellite phones. Inan embodiment, cell phone text message networks 107 may communicate overthe control channel of the respective cellular networks. As describedhereinabove, the control channel may be a channel separate from thevoice channel that continues to be available for message traffic whenvoice channels are saturated and unavailable to complete voice calls. Inan embodiment, the underutilized control channel may not require apersistent connection and is also capable of providing reliablecommunications under degraded channel situations. When used incombination with another communication medium such as, for example, oneor more paging networks, cellular text messaging by the messagingsubsystem 101 provide reliable and fast emergency communication whenother means of communication such as, for example, voice systems, arenot available.

In an embodiment, each of the user terminals 105 may be associated withat least one message group 200 as shown in FIG. 2. Message groups 200may include multiple user terminals 105, such as, for example, thedevices 1, 2, 3 through “n” as shown in FIG. 2. Each terminal 105 may beassociated with a user. Each group 200 may have at least one definingcharacteristic. For example, a message group may include a set of userterminals 105 accessible using the same Internet domain name (e.g,user_(—)1@common_domain.gov). Alternatively, a message group may includea set of user terminals 105 accessible by a particular network 107 suchas, for example, a particular carrier or wireless telecommunicationsservice provider (e.g., T-Mobile) as shown in FIG. 2. Moreover, in anembodiment, a first messaging subsystem 101 may be coupled to at least asecond messaging subsystem 101, wherein the first and second messagingsubsystems 101 are configured to provide message transfers between theuser terminals 105 coupled to the first messaging subsystem 101 andassociated with one or more message groups 200, and the user terminals105 coupled to at least a second messaging subsystem 101 and associatedwith one or more second message groups 201. This capability supportscross-jurisdictional communication and cooperation for responding toemergencies, because diverse or previously isolated communicationssystems may be networked together for message transfer among thesystems.

Furthermore, user terminals 105 may be categorized according to responsegroup (not shown). For example, a response group may include the userterminals 105 associated with individual members of an emergencyresponse team for a given government agency (e.g., the U.S. SecretService). In at least one embodiment, the messaging subsystem 101 maymaintain status for each user registered user terminal 105 classifyingthe user associated with the user terminal 105 as one of anadministrator, a manager, and a non-originating user for the messagegroup. In an embodiment, administrators may have greater systemprivileges relative to managers, and managers may have greater systemprivileges relative to non-originating users. For example, in at leastone embodiment, an administrator(s) of an organization may be allowed tobuild and send an alert message as an alert originator 102. In anembodiment, the alert originator 102 may utilize a user terminal 105 toaccess the messaging subsystem 101 and to generate an alert message. Themessaging subsystem 101 may include features to assist an administratorin building an alert such as, for example, but not limited to, usingdifferent colors in the build page (e.g., red background) to remind thealert originator of the type of alert he is building (e.g., red for abiological alert). Also, the messaging subsystem 101 may providepartially completed alert build pages for particular emergencysituations, having predefined fields and message text, such that theadministrator only has to “fill in the blanks” for additionalinformation, in order to increase the speed in which an administratormay originate an alert. In at least one embodiment, the messagingsubsystem 101 may provide fully completed alert message templates. Suchcompleted message templates may include, for example, but not limitedto, predefined message text and predetermined recipient or user groups.Furthermore, an administrator may be provided the capability to definethe additional questions posed to an individual user during registrationof the user, in order to collect particular information useful inassembling an emergency response team in the case of threat or actualemergency event. For example, a hospital administrator may wish tocollect information identifying employees having four-wheel-drivevehicle, in case of a snow emergency.

In an embodiment, users of the system 100 may be classified according toa variety of criteria for message generation privileges and varyingdegrees of system access. For example, a user of the system 100 may be asender. A sender may be assigned a unique PIN for message origination toallow the messaging subsystem 101 to determine that the sender is anauthorized sender. A user may also be a manager, an administrator, or anon-originating user. An administrator has the highest level of messagesending and information access. For example, an administrator may beprovided access to an interactive page that provides an administratorconsole. By interacting with the administrator console, an administratormay add, change, or delete user or device related information maintainedby the messaging subsystem 101. In an embodiment, the administratorconsole page may provide interactive fields and icons that are notprovided to or accessible by other users. The administrator may alsodefine the access privileges of other users in a group or particularorganization. A manager may be able send only those messages for whichan administrator has granted send privileges to the sender, in anembodiment, but may however be permitted to add, delete, or modify userregistration information or device information, or to undertake othermaintenance activities using the messaging subsystem 101. In anembodiment, managers may also authorize particular users in their groupto be senders. Non-originating users may be able to receive messages viatheir associated user terminal(s) 105. Non-originating users may also beable to access, add, or modify only the information for themselves. Inan embodiment, to de-register, a non-originating user must obtainpermission from a manager or administrator.

Further detail regarding the messaging subsystem 101 according to atleast one embodiment is shown in FIG. 3. Referring to FIG. 3, themessaging subsystem 101 may include a message engine 301 which may becoupled to a web server 302, and a user messaging database 303 which maybe coupled to both the message engine 301 and the web server 302. Themessage engine 301 may further include a self-contained electronic mailprocessor 304 configured to, as a minimum, transfer electronic messagesto communication gateways 104. The message engine 301 may include asequence of programmed instructions that when executed in cooperationwith the web server 302 and the database 303 cause the messagingsubsystem 101 to perform the functions described herein. In at least oneembodiment, the instructions may be implemented in the form of PracticalExtraction and Reporting Language (Perl) script code. Furthermore, themessage sending process may be launched by, for example, a HypertextPreprocessor (PHP) as code implemented using Perl scripts such that thePerl code is executed by a PHP-driven web interface. Alternatively, thePerl scripts may be implemented as Common Gateway Interface (CGI)scripts used to transfer information between the web server 302 and themessage engine 391. Alternatively, the messaging subsystem 101 may beimplemented using instructions provided in accordance with the C/C++,Java™, or Python™ programming languages.

In an embodiment, the message engine 301 may be configured such thatmultiple different modules (i.e., communication system/devicecapabilities) are supported and will interact with the mail processor304. Thus, multiple message delivery methods may be supported andcapabilities to support new alert/message target devices added as needsand communication capabilities evolve. In at least one embodiment, theuser terminals 105 or devices may be grouped by the message engine 301by delivery method (e.g., communications system) to allow messages oralert messages to be sent to several devices in a single deliveryattempt to minimize the number of connections (e.g., IP connections)made by the message engine 301.

In an embodiment, upon receiving a first message, such as a first alertmessage, the message engine 301 may cause a corresponding secondmessage, such as a second alert message, to be delivered to one or moreuser terminals 105. In particular, the second message may be transferredor broadcast to a large number of user terminals 105 associated with oneor multiple response groups within a very short period of time. In atleast one embodiment, the time from the first message being initiated bythe alert originator 102 to the time that the first of the intendedrecipient user terminals 105 receive a corresponding second message oralert via the network 107 may be within two seconds.

The message engine 301 may group user terminals 105 by their carriers todeliver messages to multiple devices in a single gateway messagetransmission. By thus transferring messages to multiple carriers via thecommunications gateways 104, combined with the parallel processing ofindividual carriers, allows the system 100 to process and submit fordelivery messages for tens of thousands of users in a few seconds. Themessage engine 301 may monitor the arrival of the first messages oralert messages through various arrival methods and interfaces. In casethe first message contains special characters and/or formatting (e.g.,multi-media messages), the message engine 301 may also parse the messagereceived from the alert originator 102 to extract the actual textualinformation and, if necessary, dissect the message into smaller piecesappropriate to the user terminal 105 (e.g., a mobile device) memory anddisplay limitations. Thus, in converting the first message or alertmessage received from the alert originator to a gateway message, themessage engine 301 may reformat, for each of the one or more gatewaymessages, the first message received from the alert originator 102 to aformat in which the communication gateway 104 associated with thegateway message will accept and perform operations in response to theincoming gateway message. Further to the conversion process, the messageengine 301 may form an address for each of the one or more gatewaymessages to include the domain name information associated with thecommunication gateway 104 and the user identification information (e.g.,“username@government_agency.gov”) associated with the registered userreceiving the second message. Thus, in an embodiment, the message engine301 may reformat and adapt the first message into a mobile device textmessage adaptation (i.e., e-mail dissection).

Furthermore, in at least one embodiment, in converting the first messageor first alert message to a gateway message, the message engine 301 mayaccommodate the text message limitations of the particular network 107.For some networks 107, the full message as received from the alertoriginator; or as originated by an administrative user via the webserver 302, may not fit into a single text message due to characterlimits set by the individual carriers. For example, the Sprint™ networksupports 100 characters per message. Therefore, in order to receive a500-character message, a user would need to receive five messages viathe Sprint™ network to his user terminal 105. In such a case, themessage engine 301 may dissect the message received from the alertoriginator into multiple text messages. The inventors have discovered anoptimal character limit for each device or user terminal on particularnetworks 107. The optimal character limit may be determined based onachieving ease of output for user quick recognition on a display of theuser terminal, as well as for efficient routing throughout theparticular network 107. These parameters may be stored using thedatabase 303 and retrieved by the message engine 301 as required forparticular gateway alert messages. For electronic messages (i.e.,“e-mail”), the message engine 301 may further include the sender,subject and the text in the body of the e-mail message transferred tothe communication gateway 104. The message engine 301 thus enablesmessage originators to focus on the content of their message and not thefinal format for delivery to specific mobile devices.

In addition, in an embodiment, the message engine 301 may parse or stripall or a portion of the header and message content of the first messageas received from the alert originator 102 based on the messageparameters required by the network 107 for the type of message to bedelivered. Such parsing may include sending only the actual textual partof the e-mail, stripping out possible headers, HTML code, or cc'edaddress information. Thus, the message engine 301 may associate a uniqueset of message parameters with each of the communication gateways 104.The messaging subsystem may then transmit a gateway message or gatewayalert message to one or more of the user terminals 105 via one or moreof the communication gateways 104 in accordance with the set of theunique message parameters for each communication gateway 104, inresponse to receiving an alert message or first message from the alertoriginator 102.

The message engine 301 may also provide the capability fornon-originating users to be organized into administrator defined alertgroups. The message engine 301 may then be configured by anadministrator to send alert messages to one or more of the alert groups,thereby allowing for communication to specified subsets of usersdepending on the nature of the message. An example of a group membershipinteractive page 400 provided in at least one embodiment is shown inFIG. 4. Referring to FIG. 4, non-members 401 may display a list of allregistered users on the system. Members 402 may display a list of allregistered users who are members of the particular group. AnAdminstrator can select any number of non-members and click “Add” tomake them members of the group.

Furthermore, users in one alert group served by a first messagingsubsystem 101 may exchange alert messages with the users of a remotealert group served by another messaging subsystem 101. In an embodiment,remote groups (i.e., groups set up by administrators of other messagingsubsystems 101) may be displayed (or otherwise output) to a user asregular local groups in the send alert user interface. FIG. 5 depicts aGraphical User Interface (GUI) for configuring remote user messaginggroups in at least one embodiment. Referring to FIG. 5, the form fieldGroup Name 501 may be the name of the group to be created. The formfield Short Group Name 502 may be an abbreviated name for the group tobe created. The form field Group Code 503 may assign a code to the groupto be created. The form field Remote Server 504 may designate the serveron which the remote group is stored.

In at least one embodiment, users can have multiple devices (i.e.,multiple user terminals 105) each having the capability to receivemessages from the messaging subsystem 101. For example, each userterminal 105 may have e-mail access to the same or different networks107. This diversity provides for redundancy over different carriers andinfrastructures to increase the probability of successful delivery of amessage to a user.

Furthermore, the message engine 301 may track the confirmation or otherresponse received back from the user via the user terminal 105 inreal-time in order to collect and maintain the status of user responsesto alert messages and lists users that have not responded as well asproviding information on bounced/undeliverable messages or out of officereplies. A GUI including an alert tracking interactive page 600 providedin an embodiment is shown in FIG. 6. Referring to FIG. 6, the “Alert #”field 601 may display a unique numeric identifier for a particular alertmessage. The “Groups” field 602 may show the name of each group of usersa sender has assigned to receive the alert message. The “To” field 603may display a graphical icon for each delivery channel or “device type”a sender has selected to receive the alert message. The “#” field 604may show the number of users who received the alert message. The“Responses Confirmed” field 605 may display the number of users who haveresponded to the alert message. The “Responses Other” field 606 maydisplay the number of replies to a message that are not confirmed asvalid responses from users, e.g. invalid message recipient replies or“bounce-backs”, “out of office” replies and other such responses.

In at least one embodiment, the messaging subsystem 101 may be deployedas a standalone server solution with no software to install on otherservers, user's client computers, or mobile devices. Alternatively, themessaging subsystem 101 may be implemented as an Application ServiceProvider (ASP) based service hosted separately from the userorganization's existing systems and accessible via a network such as theInternet. In an embodiment, the messaging subsystem 101 may beimplemented using, for example, open source operating system softwaresuch as Linux. In an embodiment, the user messaging database 303 may bea Structured Query Language (SQL) database. In at least one embodiment,the messaging subsystem 101 may be based on the Linux operating system.Alternatively, the messaging subsystem 101 may be based on MicrosoftWindows™ NT/XP™, Sun Solaris™, or Open BSD™ Unix™ provided by BerkeleyStandard Design, Inc. of Berkeley, Calif.

Users may access the system 100 via, for example, a packet-based networksuch as the World Wide Web. In at least one embodiment, the web server302 may provide a web interface by which users may subscribe, enter, andmanage information specific to their user terminals 105 or mobiledevice(s) and/or e-mail accounts. In particular, the messaging subsystem101 may be setup entirely by an administrator to centralize the initialregistration process (as described herein). Furthermore, in anembodiment, users of all levels may be provided the capability toregister themselves, thereby relieving the administrative burden on theuser organization.

In at least one embodiment, the web server 302 may provide the interfacebetween the user and the system 100 to collect and display informationrelated to messaging subsystem 101 accounts and operational settings.Referring to FIG. 3, the web server 302 may further include a user websection 305 and an administrator web section 306. The user web section305 may include a sequence of programmed instructions that configure theweb server 302 to allow users to sign up for an account, or register,and enter their device or user terminal 105 information. For example, aregistering user may enter her cell phone number and carrier (orwireless device/e-mail address). Users with existing accounts may accessa “MyService” account page provided for the purpose of, for example,allowing users to modify their profile and terminal 105 information,send alerts if they are authorized users, and access the online help viathe FAQs and help pages. Furthermore, the user web section 305 mayallows users to set up multiple devices including e-mail addresses foralert deliveries. For example, a user may select his cell phone, worke-mail, home e-mail, and his spouse's cell phone, pager, and worke-mail. In at least one embodiment, a user may send a self test messageto all of his selected devices. By entering the necessary accessinformation for each of these user terminals 105 associated with theuser, the system 100 will provide an alert message to each such userterminal 105 associated with the user for messages or alerts intendedfor receipt by that user.

The administrator web section 306 may allow users having administratorlevel access authorization (e.g., “administrators”) to send alerts ormessages, view and modify all account information, create and assignmembership to groups, modify system settings, view usage and summarystatistics, produce reports, and backup the messaging subsystem data.Administrators may enter new users and modify their information allowingfor setup and use of the system 100 without any end user involvement.Administrators may send messages or alert messages to one or moregroups. Further, the administrator web section 306 provides an advancedgroup sending capability that allows members of one or more groups thatare not members of other particular groups to receive messages. This isuseful for situations in which a user is a member of several groups andthe same message is sent to each of those different groups over time.Thus, the advanced group sending capability eliminates duplicatemessages going to the same recipient.

In at least one embodiment, the web server 302 may provide detailedlogging of all messages. The web server 302 may also provide a reportgeneration capability for rendering and outputting toe requestingadministrative user an indication of all previous alert messages alongwith alert source, date, time, and delivery information. Further, theweb server 302 may also provide response logs for rendering andoutputting to a requesting administrative user real-time information totrack the replies that users send in response to receiving the secondmessages, thus providing true receipt status. This response loginformation may include an indication of particular users that have notresponded as well as devices or user terminals 105 that have bounced(i.e., not accepted the message) or for which messages areundeliverable. Furthermore, in an embodiment, the web server 302 mayinclude a tool to create a group on the fly allows administrators toquickly send a message to users that have not responded, for example.Secure Socket Layer (SSL) security may be optionally provided to ensureprivacy during connections to the web server 302. In at least oneembodiment, the web server 302 may be based on the open source ApacheWeb Server originally developed by the Apache Group, the source code forwhich is publicly available from various sources including the WorldWide Web. Alternatively, the web server 302 may be implemented using theMicrosoft Internet Information Server (IIS™) for Windows™ NT platforms.In at least one embodiment, the database 303 may include a preprocessorsuch as, for example, the open source, server side HypertextPreprocesser (PHP), for creating dynamic World Wide Web pages. PHPscripts are compatible with many database systems.

The user messaging database 303 may be used to store message and useraccount information for the system 100. Upon user request, informationcontained in the database 303 may be retrieved and provided to the webserver 302 for rendering and outputting to the requesting user using,for example, an HTTP interface to the web server 302. Furthermore, themessage engine 301 may obtain information stored in the database 303 toprepare and deliver messages to the user terminals 105 via gatewaymessage sent to the communication gateways 104.

In an embodiment, the user messaging database 303 may include a databasemanagement system (DBMS) software application such as the MySQL® opensource Relational Database Management System (RDBMS) available fromMySQL AB of Sweden, the source code for which is publicly available fromvarious sources including the World Wide Web, for storage and retrievalof, for example, user account or message format data in accordance withthe Structured Query Language (SQL) database format. Alternatively, thedatabase 303 may be implemented using SQL Server 7.0 provided byMicrosoft Corporation, or similar products provided by Oracle® Corp. ofRedwood Shores, Calif. or the open source PostgreSQL.

In one embodiment, the database 303 may execute a sequence of SQLscripts operative to store or retrieve particular items arranged andformatted in accordance with a set of formatting instructions. Forinstance, the database 303 may execute one or more SQL scripts inresponse to a request from the web server 302 to receive particularitems of user account information in a format suitable for transmissionto and display by the user terminal 105 using a web browser softwareapplication such as, for example, Internet Explorer™ provided byMicrosoft Corporation. In one embodiment, the database 303 maycommunicate with the web server 302 and the message engine 301 inaccordance with the Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) standard developedby Microsoft Corporation.

Further, the web server 302 may be used in an embodiment to generate andtransmit interactive HTML or XML pages to the alert originator 102 viathe network 103 and to the user terminal 105 via the networks 106 and107. In particular, the web server 303 may receive requests forinformation as well as user entered data from the alert originator 102or the user terminal 105. Such user provided requests and data may bereceived in the form of user entered data contained in an interactiveHTML or XML page provided in accordance with the Java Server Pages™standard developed by Sun™ Microsystems. Alternatively, user providedrequests and data may be received in the form of user entered datacontained in an interactive HTML or XML page provided in accordance withthe Active Server Pages (ASP) standard. In response to a user enteredrequest, the web server 302 may generate a report in the form of aninteractive HTML or XML page by obtaining user and alert data, which mayinclude alert tracking date, corresponding to the user request bytransmitting a corresponding command to the database 303 requestingretrieval of the associated data. The database 303 may then execute oneor more scripts to obtain the desired information and provide theretrieved data to the web server 302. Upon receipt of the requesteddata, the web server 302 may build an interactive HTML or XML pageincluding the requested data and transmit the page to the requestor inaccordance with, for example, HTML and Java Server Pages™ (JSP)formatting standards.

In an embodiment, the messaging subsystem may further include a firewall(not shown) to protect the system 100 against unauthorized access. Thefirewall functions to exclude unknown or unauthorized users fromaccessing the 100.

The message engine 301, web server 302, and user messaging database 303may be implemented in the form of application software executing on atleast one computing platform. FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram ofone embodiment of a computing platform 400 useful for hosting softwareapplication programs implementing the message engine 301, web server302, and user messaging database 303. Referring now to FIG. 7, thecomputing platform 700 includes a processor 705, a network interface710, a user interface 720, operating system instructions 735,application executable instructions/API 740, all provided in functionalcommunication using a data bus 750. The processor 705 may be anymicroprocessor or microcontroller configured to execute softwareinstructions implementing the functions described herein. Applicationexecutable instructions/APIs 740 and operating system instructions 735are stored using computing platform 700 nonvolatile memory. Applicationexecutable instructions/APIs 740 include software application programsimplementing the message engine. 301, web server 302, and user messagingdatabase 303. Operating system instructions 735 include softwareinstructions operable to control basic operation and control of theprocessor 705. In one embodiment, operating system instructions 735 mayinclude the NT™ operating system available from Microsoft Corporation ofRedmond, Wash. In at least one embodiment, the computing platform may bea PC provided by Dell Computer of Round Rock, Tex.

As described previously, the message engine 301, web server 302, anduser messaging database 303 may each reside on a single computingplatform 700, or on more than one computing platform 700, or eachapplication may reside on a separate computing platform 700. In anembodiment, the messaging subsystem 101 may be scaleable such thatadditional message engines 301, web servers 302, and user messagingdatabases 303 may be added to the messaging subsystem 101 as required toincrease message transfer speed or to maintain system 100 capabilitiesas subscribers to the service increase. Application executableinstructions/APIs 740 and operating system instructions 735 are loadedinto one or more allocated code segments of computing platform 700volatile memory for runtime execution. In one embodiment, computingplatform 700 includes 256 MB of volatile memory and 20 GB of nonvolatilememory storage.

Application executable instructions/APIs 740 may include one or moreapplication program interfaces (APIs). The messaging subsystem 101application programs may use APIs for inter-process communication and torequest and return inter-application function calls. For example, an APImay be provided in conjunction with the database 303 in order tofacilitate the development of SQL scripts useful to cause database 303to perform particular data storage or retrieval operations in accordancewith the instructions specified in the script(s). In general, APIs maybe used to facilitate development of application programs which areprogrammed to accomplish the messaging functions described herein, suchas the addition of new communication modules and integration with thirdparty products.

Returning to FIG. 7, the network interface 710 may provide the computingplatform 700 the capability to transmit and receive information over theInternet, including but not limited to electronic mail, HTML or XMLpages, and file transfer capabilities. To this end, the networkinterface 710 may further include a web browser such as, but not limitedto, Microsoft Internet Explorer™ provided by Microsoft Corporation. Theuser interface 720 may include a computer terminal display, keyboard,and mouse device. One or more Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) also maybe included to provide for display and manipulation of data contained ininteractive HTML or XML pages.

Thus, the system 100 may provide a solution for emergency alertnotification. In particular, the messaging subsystem 101 may be deviceand carrier agnostic, adhering to applicable Internet and wirelessstandards to allow the messaging subsystem 101 to work with existingcarriers and equipment. Furthermore, the system 100 provides reliableand fast message delivery, simple web-browser based management,networking capabilities for forming coalitions between multiplemessaging subsystems 101, and easy interfacing with existingemergency-management infrastructure. For example, a first messagingsubsystem 101 may be coupled to a second, third, etc. message processingsystem 101 using, a network 108 for example as shown in FIG. 1, to allowmessages to be shared between diverse users and groups served by anyparticular messaging subsystem 101. This permits, for example, an alertmessage originating from the Department of Energy and received at afirst messaging subsystem 101 to be shared with a member of a localgovernment fire and rescue team via a second messaging subsystem 101.This capability permits interoperability among different organizationsand agencies, thereby improving inter-jurisdictional coordination amongagencies at various levels of government in effectively responding to anemergency. Thus, emergency response personnel are provided with flexibleand powerful message (e.g., alert message) distribution within andacross organizational boundaries. Finally, by utilizing certain aspectsof existing technologies and infrastructure that most companies andorganizations already have in place, the system 100 provides for fast,incremental, and cost-effective installation.

Furthermore, the system 100 may include, in at least one embodiment,certain capabilities that further serve to, improve the ability of usersto communicate effectively. For example, the system 100 provides veryhigh reliability due to, for example, redundancy of delivery channels tomultiple user terminals 105. In an embodiment, use of a non-voicechannel to transfer messages to user terminals 105 also providesincreased reliability with respect to voice-based systems and methods.In fact, the messaging subsystem 101 is in many cases able to continueto function effectively when other communication methods have failed. Bysending messages to all mobile devices and e-mail boxes registered foreach user, the likelihood of successful message delivery to the user byat least one of the redundant communication channels is high. Further,because most of these channels are disjoint any outage on one will notaffect delivery through the others.

Still further, the messaging subsystem 101 may be made redundant acrossseveral servers to provide for service with reduced points of failure.The features of the messaging subsystem and design may ensure that thealert message is received, processed, and delivered to the users attheir defined devices. Once users are registered with the system, themessaging subsystem simplifies the alert originator's task in draftingthe emergency alert. The messaging subsystem may handle packaging themessage and ensuring it is delivered in the best legible formatappropriate for the users' device(s).

In addition, the system 100 may deliver messages very quickly to userterminals 105, thus increasing response time and response force for anemergency response team. Emergency messages, for example, are usuallytime-critical. The system 100 may be able to deliver messages tothousands of recipients within a few seconds.

Furthermore, in an embodiment, users of the system 100 do not need tosubstantially modify their existing routines to implement the system100. The messaging subsystem 101 may be implemented by a new userwithout adding new system interfaces, for example. In addition, themessaging subsystem 101 may be implemented in conformance with industrystandards and equipment. In at least one embodiment, the messagingsubsystem 101 may be implemented using open source software components.Therefore, the system 100 is not intrusive to the user's existingsystems and does not require retrofitting or software modification ofexisting systems. The messaging subsystem 101 may be able to be usedwith standards based or proprietary existing systems. Thus, themessaging subsystem 101 may be added even for situations in which theinstallation of any integration software is not feasible. However, thesesame characteristics allow the messaging subsystem 101 to be integratedwith existing alert initiation technology for users that already havesystems in place that monitor events and trigger alerts accordingly.

Furthermore, the system 100 may include plug-and-play installationfunctionality with existing systems. In particular, the system 100 maybe a server-based solution that may be delivered and installed as anetwork appliance. In an embodiment, few steps are required to deploythe system 100. For example, adding a messaging subsystem 101 capabilitymay be accomplished by: 1) Connect the box into the network; 2) Assignan internal or publicly available name to the system for easy webbrowser access; and, 3) Either establish two external e-mail boxes ormodify Domain Name Server (DNS) MX entries to direct SMTP traffic forany specific domain into the messaging subsystem box. The last step maybe a quick customization of the system through the administrativeconsole. DNS MX records identify the mail server(s) responsible forhandling electronic mail for a domain name.

In an embodiment, the system 100 may provide high data integrity andaccuracy. For example, by allowing users to self-register, dataintegrity is increased because at least one step in database populationor registration of users is eliminated. For example, registering usersdo not have to first enter their contact, etc. information onto astandard form for later data entry by clerical personnel. Furthermore,because users can enter their information directly, the system 100 mayprovide for relatively easier maintenance for both users andadministrators in maintaining the consistency of the database.Furthermore, the system 100 may provide user friendly initial userregistration. In particular, to register, a user may provide basicinformation such as his or her name, e-mail address and optionally oneor more mobile devices, and this may be the only step each user has totake to register and participate in the system 100. In an embodiment, nochanges to any other setup, no installation of additional software orperiodical maintenance is required. An example of a registrationinteractive page 800 provided in at least one embodiment is shown inFIGS. 8 a and 8 b. Referring to FIG. 8 a, the form fields Name and EmailAddress 801 may be for the user's name and email address. The emailaddress uniquely identifies the user in the database. The form fieldCell Phone/Mobile Device Carrier 802 may allow the user to select acarrier or device identifier for each device registered. The form fieldPassword 803 may allow the user to create a password to protect theaccount. Referring to FIG. 8 b, the field 804 may be an example of aSupplemental Information question. An Administrator may add any numberof these questions to the registration process through the AdministratorConsole (See FIG. 10). A user's response to these questions may triggersecondary questions designed to capture more information about eachindividual user during the registration process.

Further, message and user information may be shared among multipleorganizations that may be served by a different one of multiplemessaging subsystems 101. For example, some emergencies cross boundariesof jurisdictions and thus neighboring or otherwise related organizationsmay need to be included on some alert messages. In at least oneembodiment, the system 100 may allow different users to form a grid ofmessaging subsystem 101 deployments for cross-jurisdictional alertmessaging and emergency management. An example of a grid 900 accordingto at least one embodiment is shown in FIG. 9. Referring to FIG. 9,therein is depicted an exemplary system 100 for The MetropolitanWashington Council of Governments (“COG”) deployment. COG is a regionalorganization of Washington, D.C. area local governments, plus areamembers of the Maryland and Virginia legislatures, the U.S. Senate, andthe U.S. House of Representatives. COG provides a focus for action anddevelops regional responses to issues such as the environment, economicdevelopment, public safety, transportation and regional coordination formajor disasters. Fairfax County 901 is one of the COG memberjurisdictions. In this example, Fairfax County can use the system 100 tosend messages to user groups 901 from any of the other jurisdictionsshown on the map using Remote Groups features (See FIG. 5).

Still further, in at least one embodiment, the system 100 provides formultiple ways for alert origination as described herein. For example, analert originator 102 may send an alert message, or first message, to themessaging subsystem 101 by HTML-formatted web page including alertoriginator added data in accordance with the HTTP protocol, bySMTP-formatted electronic mail message, by SMS-formatted text message,by eXtensible Markup Language (XML) formatted message, by InstantMessage (IM™ ) provided by, for example, America Online™ of Dulles, Va.,and by Short Message Service (SMS) for GSM-based networks, or from anye-mail enabled device (e.g., any e-mail client, 2-way pager, cell phone,etc.). By thus allowing authorized senders to originate an alert invarious situations, multiple ways to submit alerts are provided.

In addition, the system 100 may provide instant delivery to carriernetworks. For example, the messaging subsystem 101 may, for each alertmessage, organize devices by carrier, and then transfer to each carriervia communication gateway 104 only one gateway alert message with allthe target devices listed within this message. This multicasting speedsup the message processing time within the system 100 significantly.

Still further, the system 100 may include a simple management consolethat provides a straightforward yet powerful administrator console thatallows authorized personnel to add, remove and modify user and deviceinformation and to form groups of individual users and authorizespecific users to post alerts to defined groups. Administrators as wellas authorized users can post messages to groups and/or individual usersand review alert logs as well as response logs. Also, follow-up messagescan be sent to non-responders, users who responded in a certain way, orany other arbitrary groups of users. In an embodiment, the home page maybe a “send alert” page. An example of a management console interactivepage 1000 provided in accordance with at least one embodiment is shownin FIG. 10. Referring to FIG. 10, Quick Alerts 1001 may be graphicalicons that when clicked load pre-formatted alert templates and content.For example, when an Administrator or authorized sender clicks the“EVAC” icon, a preformatted alert loads automatically, saving the senderthe time it would take to type the text, select the groups of recipientsand configure the various sending options. The text might say, “Exit theWest Office Building immediately.” Or, if the message is a follow-up,“The West Office Building is now safe and secure. You may return.” Thesender need only click the “Send” button to send the message topre-selected groups and devices. This process is illustrated in FIG. 14.Referring to FIG. 14, there is also shown an example of a received alertmessage on the display of a mobile telephone handset. Returning to FIG.10, the Alert Category 1002 may allow the user to select a predefinedalert type, so that the “from” address of the alert and potentially thesource of the alert are automatically configured. The Send to Members Of1003 may allow a sender to select individual user groups to berecipients of the alert message.

In addition, the messaging subsystem 101 may provide a report generatorfor producing one or more reports that include statistics and chartsshowing the distribution of types of user terminals and communicationmedia or channels. Such reports may be provided in response to receivinga corresponding request from an administrator user using theadministrator console. Example interactive report pages 1100 provided inat least one embodiment are shown in FIGS. 11 a and 11 b. Referring toFIG. 11 a, the System Summary 1101 may output a number of systemstatistics Administrators find useful to track. System Management 1102may output a list of downloadable reports, hyperlinks to theircorresponding files in at least two formats and a hyperlink to downloada full system backup file. The Group Distribution section 1103 mayoutput information regarding all user messaging groups. An interactivereport page 1100 illustrating an example carrier distribution report1103 is shown in FIG. 11 b. Referring to FIG. 11 b, the carrierdistribution report 1103 may include information in numeric and visualform such as, for example, a pie chart, showing the relativedistribution of communications carriers used for sending one or moremessages.

Furthermore, the messaging subsystem 101 may provide systems and methodsfor reply tracking including, but not limited to:

an alert tracker page,

a summary of log messages,

message log detail,

a response log,

an auto-refresh alert tracker,

the ability to send responses from users to additional recipients,

the ability to log responses by alert number,

alert tracker detail,

the ability to view alert recipients, respondents, non-respondents, andresponses from identified senders, responses from unidentified senders.

Furthermore, the messaging subsystem 101 may provide systems and methodsfor system management including, but not limited to:

web-based system management,

the capability to be implemented as an internal (e.g., behind anorganization firewall) or third-party hosted system,

the automated sending of an electronic mail to a newly-registering useron enrollment or registration,

text message confirmation,

optional privacy via SSL,

use of encrypted passwords,

use of open source software components such as Linux™, terms of serviceincluded with the system 100,

carrier and contact information included with the system 100,

the ability to edit user information received from an administrator,

several reports pages, including real time reporting of alert messagesand replies, reports showing details such as user information anddevices used by a group (e.g., pie chart and data indicatingdistribution of device types within a group) as well as summaries ofdatabases, carriers, and alerts,

multi-threaded processing for message delivery,

intrusion detection mechanisms included with the system,

a built-in firewall,

redundant server mirroring and capability,

voice module integration,

the ability to send HTML or XML formatted hyperlinks for certain pages,

including a network server with other system servers,

remote group integration (via other servers),

the ability to administer carrier information,

real-time monitoring of the network,

remote electronic mail generation,

the ability to receive remotely electronic mail reply messages,

the ability to remotely originate an alert message and to remotelyreceive replies,

the ability to export database information to external systems that mayinclude spreadsheet applications,

the ability to easily backup the database,

the ability to customize the system, the ability to optimize systemperformance,

optional remote server backup of the database for a given messagingsubsystem,

the ability for an administrator to specify supplementary userinformation to be provided at registration,

the ability to search messages for particular characters,

providing access to the system according to a multi-level access scheme,

use of a Breadcrumbs™ navigation system,

the ability to add branding to a messaging subsystem (e.g., company,corporate logo, device test message, index page master, index pagetest),

the ability to define contacts parameters such as contact e-mail andcontact string,

providing look and feel parameters (e.g., alert templates, device class,excluded groups, incidents, multi-content, reply delivery, datestamp,priority, tagline, registration group prompt, registration signup,tracker refresh),

the ability to define and specify mail server parameters including:alert check frequency, alert password, alert mailserver, alert protocol,alert username, reply password, reply mailserver, reply protocol, replyusername,

definition of and automatic sending of custom registration messages,including: update email, update cell, update pager, update emailsubject, welcome email, welcome cell message, welcome pager message,welcome email subject,

the ability to define and specify server setup parameters, including: analert email, company email domain, daemon email, default email subject,keep log, network server name, product server, a reply email, senderalert identifier, and

the ability to define and specify user parameters, including: globalremote alert, max invalid count, single user messaging, super manager,user remove, and user sending GUI.

Furthermore, the messaging subsystem 101 may provide systems and methodsfor user management including, but not limited to:

the ability to edit personal account information (e.g., edit an emailaccount, address, school; unsubscribe; and choose an alert device toreceive alerts),

the ability to self subscribe to alert types and groups,

the ability to view a user's groups,

send a forgotten password to a user,

online help,

scalable to millions of users without increasing message delivery delay,

advanced user grouping (using, e.g., a group page),

on the fly group selection and sending,

group sending authorization,

nested group capability,

multi-level access to the system for managers,

designation of groups as public or managed,

remote generation of Personal Identification Number (PIN),

searchable database of user information,

ad hoc grouping,

user self testing,

custom grouping, and

search groups.

Furthermore, the messaging subsystem 101 may provide systems and methodsfor other miscellaneous functions including, but not limited to:

an alert incident page that may be edited for look and feel for theincident, and

providing an incident page link in the alert messages.

A method 1200 according to at least one embodiment is shown in the flowchart of FIG. 12. Referring to FIG. 12, a method 1200 may commence at1205 and proceed to 1210, at which a method may include registering aplurality of users to receive messages from at least one alertoriginator. Control may then proceed to 1215, at which a method mayenter a state awaiting reception of an alert message from an alertoriginator. Upon receiving an alert message from an alert originator,control may proceed to 1220 in which a method may include determining aset of user terminals to receive a user alert message corresponding tothe received alert message. In at least one embodiment, the set of userterminals may be associated with the registered users of at least onemessage recipient group.

Control may then proceed to 1225, in which a method may includeconverting the alert message to one or more gateway alert messages.Alternatively, for SMS received alert messages, conversion at 1225 maybe bypassed and the SMS message output as a gateway alert message. In anembodiment, this may be accomplished by transferring the first messagereceived from an alert originator to an SMS or priority gateway fordistribution of the SMS message to user terminals. An example of an SMSgateway is the Bunny Hop™ Short Message Servicing Center (SMSC) productprovided by TeleCommunications Systems, Inc. of Annapolis, Md. In eithercase, control may then proceed to 1230, at which a method mayconditionally determine whether or not another gateway alert message isto be prepared. If so, control may return to 1225 for conversion. If not(e.g., there are no more gateway alert messages to be prepared), controlmay then proceed to 1235. At 1235, a method may include transferringeach of the gateway alert messages to its corresponding communicationgateway. Control may then proceed to 1240, at which a method may includedistributing or delivering an alert message by the communicationgateways, upon their receiving a gateway alert message, to each of theregistered users associated with the at least one message group. In atleast one embodiment, the transfer may be performed using a non-voicechannel of the communication network. Control may then proceed to 1245,at which a method may include tracking replies received from each userin response to the alert message(s) received by the user. Control maythen proceed to 1250, at which a method may end.

Further detail regarding registration of users per 1210 is shown in FIG.13. Referring now to FIG. 13, registration 1210 in at least oneembodiment, may further commence at 1305 and proceed to 1310, at whichregistration may include associating each registered user with a userterminal. Further, control may also proceed to 1325, at which anadministrator may define and add additional questions designed to obtainparticular information from users during the registration process.Control may then proceed to 1315, at which a registration method mayinclude conditionally determining whether another user terminal shouldbe associated with the user. If so, then control may return to 1310. Ifnot (i.e., no further user terminals to be associated with the user),then control may proceed to 1320. At 1320, the registration method mayinclude categorizing the user. In at least one embodiment, theregistering user may be registered as one of an administrator, amanager, or a non-originating user. Control may then proceed to 1330, atwhich a registration method may include collecting information from theregistering user. In an embodiment, user information may be collectedusing an interactive page such as, for example, a World Wide Web page,which includes data fields in which the registering user may enterinformation in response to corresponding questions provided on the page.In an embodiment, the questions on the registration page may bepreviously defined by an administrative user. The user providedinformation may then be stored in a database, at 1335. Control may thenproceed to 1340, at which a registration method may. end. Anillustration of an example registration page 800 provided in conjunctionwith registration 1210 is shown in FIGS. 8 a and 8 b.

Further detail regarding determining a set of receiving user terminalsper 1220 is shown in FIG. 15. Referring to FIG. 14, determining a set ofreceiving user terminals may, in at least one embodiment, commence at1505 and proceed to 1510. At 1510, a determining method may includeanalyzing the collected user information for the presence of one or moreparticular informational items based on criteria selected by the alertoriginator. For example, an alert originator may wish to send an alertmessage to all registered users in a group that speak Spanish. Duringregistration, the capability may be provided for the user to specify inwhich language(s) she wants to receive messages on her devices. Further,the user may specify during registration the language in which he wishesto interact with the registration page and enter user information.Control may then proceed to 1515, at which a determining method mayinclude selecting the group of user terminals based on the usersassociated with the user terminals whose user information matches thecriteria specified in the analyzing (for example, users whoseinformation indicates that he speaks Spanish). Control may then proceedto 1520, at which a determination method may end.

further detail regarding converting an alert message to a gateway alertmessage per 1225 is shown in FIG. 16. Referring to FIG. 16, converting amessage to a gateway alert message may, in at least one embodiment,commence at 1605 and proceed to 1610. At 1610, a converting method mayinclude retrieving parameters from a database that are associated withthe communication gateway to which the gateway alert message isintended. Such parameters may include the maximum word length, headerinformation, routing information, and other information particular tothe communication gateway and its network. In at least one embodiment,the database 303 may include an optimum number of characters for themessage based on the memory and display capacity of the user terminal105. For example, a message destined for a wireless terminal such as acell phone handset with a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) may be limited to40 characters maximum. Furthermore, the information may include aspecification of the maximum number of characters for the gateway alertmessage specifically chosen for maximum likelihood of message deliveryby the network 107 to the user terminal 105 based on, for example,historical data characterizing network traffic reliability. Control maythen proceed to 1615, at which the converting method may includereformatting the received alert message (for each gateway alert messageto be provided), the alert message received from the alert originator toa format in which the communication gateway associated with the gatewayalert message will accept and perform operations in response to theincoming gateway alert message. Control may then proceed to 1620, atwhich a converting method may include forming an address for each of thegateway alert messages to include the domain name information associatedwith the communication gateway and the user identification informationassociated with the registered user receiving the alert message (e.g.,user_name@verizon.net). In at least one embodiment, forming an addressmay also include forming a pager address by entering a ten digittelephone number. In an embodiment, forming an address may includeappending a suffix to an electronic mail address or IP socket thatspecifies a fast route through the network 107, for increased speed inalert message delivery to user terminals 105. For example, the addresssuffix may specify a particular access point or IP socket within thenetwork 107 bypassing one or more routing points in the network 107, forfaster message routing and delivery. During registration, the user mayalso be prompted to enter the identifier for his device. The user'sentry may be validated by the system, and if the entered number does notmatch an expected format (stored using a database 303), the messagingsubsystem 101 may select the associated carrier's standard prefix andsuffix. If this results in a valid address, then this address is used bythe system. If not, the user may be prompted to edit his entry. Ifnecessary, the messaging subsystem 101 may also append a prefix to thedevice access number (e.g., “<prefix>.<cell phone number>@<domainname>”). Control may then proceed to 1625, at which the convertingmethod may include determining if another gateway alert message is to beprepared. If so, control may return to 1610. If not, then control mayproceed to 1630, at which a converting method may end. Because thenetworks 107, user terminals 105, and communication gateways 104 may bedifferent, any one of the gateway alert messages may be formatteddifferently than one or more other gateway alert message. An example GUIinteractive delivery channels page 1700 which may be used to configuredelivery channel settings is shown in FIG. 17. These settings areautomatically applied to a device based on the carrier a user chooseswhen creating it, such as during registration 802. Referring to FIG. 17,Delivery Channel Name 1301 may output the name assigned to the deliverychannel. Character Limit Per Message 1302 may output the number ofcharacters for that delivery channel, beyond which a message must besent in multiple parts. Delivery Method 1303 may output the protocolused to deliver a message to this delivery channel. Automatic Prefix1304 may output any information that must be added in front of adelivery channel address. Automatic Suffix 1305 may output the deliverychannel address suffix. Class 1306 may output the channel type, e.g.email, cell phone, pager, desktop alerts, instant message, SMS, etc.Comment 1307 may output any pertinent information an Administratorwishes to add.

Furthermore, the transferring of gateway alert messages may also includeprioritizing the order in which each gateway alert message istransferred according to communication gateway characteristics. In anembodiment, outgoing messages may be grouped by delivery method and by adomain name within a delivery method. For example, an administrator mayspecify a particular order in which the messaging subsystem transfers orsends each of the gateway alert messages to the respectivecommunications gateway. Alternatively, the messaging subsystem maytransfer gateway alert messages in a predefined order. Furthermore, theorder in which particular users receive alert messages may beprioritized by the administrator. The order may be stored in a database.For example, the messaging subsystem may transfer messages to usersbased on the group or organization with which they are associated, orother user specific information, as entered during registration.Furthermore, a sender is provided the capability to select and transfermessages to users individually. In an embodiment, gateway alert messagesmay cause the network to disseminate alert messages to user terminalsvia, for example, but not limited to, electronic mail per SMTP,interactive World Wide Web pages per. HTML or XML, and short textmessages per SMS or IM. In at least one embodiment, the messagingsubsystem may cause the communication gateway to output one or more HTMLor XML popup screens that, when received by the user terminal, appear atthe top level (i.e., take over the screen) of the user terminal display.An example of such a popup message service is the “e/pop” serviceavailable from WiredRed Software of San Diego, Calif., or CENS. Suchpopup messages may include visual and audio effects.

In at least one embodiment, to send an alert message, authorized usersmay send an authenticated and/or encrypted e-mail directly to themessaging subsystem, log on to a secure capable web page to fill out aweb form of the alert message, and send an authenticated wireless textmessage.

An alert originator may send an alert message to a group of users bydifferent methods. First, an alert originator may send an alert messagevia web interface. Second, an alert message may be sent via externaltrigger (e.g., incoming email, other incoming data stream from a partnersystem).

A flowchart of a detailed messaging method 1800 is shown in FIG. 18 a.Referring to FIG. 18 a, in at least one embodiment, a messaging methodmay include a sender initiating a message, which may be an alert, at1805. To initiate a message; a sender may send via web interface to themessaging subsystem 101 a request for an interactive page. Uponreceiving the request, the messaging subsystem may render and transferto the sender an interactive page, which may be, for example, a WorldWide Web page formatted in accordance with HTML or XML. Upon receivingthe interactive page, the sender's terminal, which may be a userterminal 105, for example, may output the interactive page to the senderto allow the sender to select and enter and otherwise define variousparameters associated with the message by interacting with dataentry/selection fields on the interactive page provided by the messagingsubsystem 101 for this purpose. For example, the sender may selectproperties of the message, including, but not limited to, Alert Category(e.g., weather, traffic, . . . ), Recipient groups (standard groupsand/or individual users via custom group), Excluded groups (groups ofusers who should not be receiving this alert or message), Graphicprofile (the receiving devices will take advantage of suggested coloringscheme, font styles and other formatting to the extent of theircapabilities,(e.g., no formatting for cell phones, full formatting forinstant messaging clients), Subject and Content of the alert or message(either one shared by all categories of devices, such as cell phones,pagers, email accounts, or each category of devices can have a differentcontent), Tag lines for each device class (e.g., ‘Sent by John Smith toGroup A, Group B . . . ’), Attachments (files, predefined responses,timestamps, etc—only the devices that can handle will benefit, e.g.,cell phones will get no file attachments, etc), Priority of message(e.g., high/normal, which may affect visualization of the alertdepending on the delivery target), and Forwarding of responses (e.g.,have the system forward recipients' responses to specified emailaddress(es)). As explained herein, these properties can also beprepopulated via a quick alert in which a message can be sent as definedin quick alert or the quick alert can be used as a template where blanksare filled prior to sending. Furthermore, during the building of amessage, a sender may enter a different sending address prefix ordifferent message subject to reflect a different alert originator ororiginating organization.

After selecting and entering the message information, the alertoriginator 102 (sender) may initiate transfer of the message to themessaging subsystem 101 by selecting, for example, a “send” button onthe interactive page using a computer mouse or keypad. At this point,control may proceed to 1810 at which the web server 302 (which may be,in at least one embodiment, a PHP web page processor) may store thecollected information selected or entered by the sender. In anembodiment, the collected information is stored into the database 303.Further, the web server 302 may also copy members of current customgroup to individual alert recipients and trigger the send alert functionof the message engine 301.

As described earlier, alternatively the alert originator 102 may select,build, and send a message using a variety of communication devicesincluding, but not limited to, a web-enabled mobile telephone terminal,SMTP formatted electronic mail, SMS, Instant Message, Blackberry™message, or any other such device configured to generate similarnon-voice messages, such as text messages or telemetry data.

Furthermore, in an embodiment, the alert originator 102 may send amessage via external trigger mechanism such as, for example, a remotesensor that includes a communication interface for reporting eventstatus. Such a device may have, for example, an SMS message processorconfigured to transmit an SMS message to another device upon theoccurrence of a particular event such as, for example, a utility meterremote reading device. Embodiments may include other industrial controlapplications and devices that generate messages as the alert originator102. In such embodiments, the web server 302 may receive analert-triggering data stream, and perform message processing functionsin response thereto including message decode, identify individualparameters of the alert, and use of default values for those notincluded. Further, if the external data stream refers to a quick alert,the web server 302 may populate a message using predefined parametersstored in the database 303 associated with the particular quick alert.In addition, the web server 302 may confirm authorizations of the entity(sender or device) that delivered the data stream for sending alertswith these properties. Finally, the web server 302 may submit themessage or alert for delivery to the message engine 301.

Control may then proceed to 1815, at which the message engine 301 mayperform group processing as follows. First, the message engine may fetchthe message or alert specification as created by one of the above stepsfrom the database 303. Next, the message engine 301 may expand the listof explicitly listed destination groups and excluded groups with alltheir subgroups.

Control may then proceed to 1820, at which the message engine 301 maybuild tag lines from the information provided according to the specifiedtag line format for each carrier class. Furthermore, the message engine301 may bundle all alert-defining data into a single data structure. At1825, a method may include determining if any destination groups are‘remote groups.’ If so, control may proceed to 1830 at which the messageengine 301 may submit the alert definition into the corresponding remoteservers.

Following 1825 or 1830, control may proceed to 1835, at which themessage engine 301 may perform device specific processing for messagedelivery to multiple user terminals or devices. In an embodiment, themessage engine 301 may perform device specific processing for each userpriority level separately. In at least one embodiment priority levelprocessing may proceed from highest priority to lowest priority. Furtherdetails regarding device specific processing at 1835 are shown anddescribed herein with respect to FIG. 18 b.

Referring to FIG. 18 b, in at least one embodiment device specificprocessing 1835 may commence at 1860. Control may then proceed to 1862,at which the message engine may find carriers that have capcodes definedfor at least one of the destination groups identified to receive themessage (i.e., capcoded carriers). A capcode may be a unique address oridentifier associated with a particular device or user terminal. Controlmay then proceed to 1864, at which the message engine may find alldevices of delivery class this message or alert is supposed to go tothat belong to users with the currently processed level of priority thatbelong to at least one of the destination groups of this alert, and addto list of devices. Control may then proceed to 1866, at which themessage engine may add all these, devices into a destination devicelist. Control may then proceed to 1868, at which the message engine maymark all devices whose carrier is ‘capcoded’ for removal later. Controlmay then proceed to 1870, at which the message engine may look updynamic properties of the destination groups and add all users thatmatch these search criteria into the individual user recipients list.Control may then proceed to 1872, at which for each individual userrecipient of the currently processed user priority, the message enginemay look up all their devices that match the carrier class used for hisalert, and add resulting devices to the list of devices, Control maythen proceed to 1874, at which the message engine may find devices ofall users (of current priority) that belong to at least one excludedgroup, and remove such devices from the list of devices. Control maythen proceed to 1876, at which the message engine may remove all devicesthat were marked for removal earlier (due to capcodes). If this is thehighest priority loop, then control may proceed to 1878, at which themessage engine may add capcodes for all involved groups into the list ofdevices. Control may then proceed to 1880, at which device specificprocessing 1835 may end.

Returning to FIG. 18 a, wherein following device specific processing at1835, if this is a local message such as a local alert (i.e., not aremote alert), the message engine may store all the collectedinformation in the database 303 for alert tracking and reportingpurposes. Control may then proceed to 1840, at which the message enginemay execute message delivery. In at least one embodiment, for eachdifferent delivery module (i.e., delivery via email, instant messaging,voice call, etc.), the message engine may load the code responsible fordelivering through this method and launch the code with the message oralert information and the list of devices to be handled by this module.Control may then proceed to 1850, at which a method may includerepeating 1835 through 1850 for the next user priority level. In atleast one embodiment, the messaging subsystem 101 may include one ormore message delivery modules for delivering messages via particularcommunications interface and medium such as, for example, electronicmail (email), paging, cell phone, SMS, and the like.

Further details regarding module specific delivery 1845 are shown anddiscussed with respect to FIG. 18 c. Referring to FIG. 18 c, in at leastone embodiment, the message engine may 301 may include a mail processor304 that may be configured to support email delivery (e.g., an emaildelivery module) commencing at 1882. Control may then proceed to 1883,at which the mail processor may accept a list of devices to delivermessages to. In an embodiment, the dispatcher may only provide thosethat apply to this module, not for all possible devices). For eachDelivery Method handled by this module (for example, delivery methods“AT&T” and “Cingular” under module ‘SMS delivery’), the mail processormay perform 1884 through 1894.

Following 1883, control may proceed to 1884, at which the mail processormay drop file attachments if this is a limited message length deliverymethod. Control may then proceed to 1886, at which the mail processormay calculate how many pieces this alert needs to go out in for thisdelivery method (for example, using the maximum number of characters permessage info associated with this delivery method). Control may thenproceed to 1888, at which for each email piece the mail processor maygenerate the message content of that piece and store it in, for example,local non-volatile memory such as a hard disk. Control may then proceedto 1890, at which the mail processor may calculate how many individualemails will be sent using the information about the number of piecesnecessary and number of devices targeted and considering also how manydevices can be bundled together in a single email. Further, at 1890, themail processor may calculate, given the number of available paralleldelivery processes (buckets), how many emails to put to each bucket todistribute the load evenly across them. Control may then proceed to1892, at which the mail processor may generate headers for each outgoingemail (put the same number of emails into each bucket) using the list ofdevices, bundle devices with the same email domain (destination server)together to minimize the number of outgoing connections, link the bodyof the email generated above with this header (note that each body isshared by many headers thus making this process more efficient) and,after both header and body of the message is created, providing theemail ready to be fetched by the delivery daemon. For each bucket, theremay be several delivery daemons that are monitoring the bucket lookingfor any new messages submitted there for delivery. When these daemonsfind any such message, they identify the recipients and initiate SMTPconnections with the destination servers. Control may then proceed to1894, at which a method may include repeating 1884 through 1894 untilmessages for all devices have been delivered.

Furthermore, at least one embodiment may include a response handlingmethod for tracking responses to delivered messages following messagetransfer and delivery as shown and described with respect to FIGS. 18a-c above. In particular, FIG. 19 is a flow chart of a method 1900 ofresponse tracking in accordance with at least one embodiment. Referringto FIG. 19, a response handling method 1900 may commence at 1905.Control may then proceed to 1910, at which the message engine mayreceive one or more responses from user terminals via communicationchannels (e.g., via email, via other channels). For each receivedresponse, the message engine may process the response as follows.Control may then proceed to 1915, at which the message engine mayidentify the device or user terminal that the response came from(sender's email address, instant message client identifier, other ID).Control may then proceed to 1920, at which the message engine mayidentify which message or alert this is a response for (i.e., correlateresponse with message/alert). Control may then proceed to 1925, at whichthe message engine may look for this identifier in a device table. Iffound, the message engine may determine that this message is a validresponse from a device that received the alert. If not found, themessage engine may determine that the response came back from an unknownsender. This may occur, for example, due to the message or alert havingbeen sent to an invalid destination and this is a bounced message (e.g.,sent by a remote server telling the messaging subsystem the destination(email account, cell phone, etc.) doesn't exist). In both cases, controlmay then proceed to 1930 at which the message engine may store theresponse in a response log for the given message or alert but mark theresponse as either identified or other. Control may then proceed to 1935if the response is identified, at which the message engine may mark theowner of the device as a person who responded to the message/alert andadjust the message/alert statistics accordingly. Control may thenproceed to 1940, at which if the sender of this alert requestedresponses to be forwarded, the message processor may forward theresponse to specified destinations at 1945. Control may then proceed to1950, at which a method may end. Furthermore, in at least oneembodiment, an auto-scrubber capability may be provided to automaticallyremove bounced addresses from reply tracking.

In at least one embodiment, the messaging subsystem may include severalpredefined quick alert messages. Examples of user selectable icons forexemplary quick alerts is shown in FIG. 10. Referring to FIG. 10, quickalerts may include Bio Attack, Dirty Bomb, Earthquake, and Mass CasualtyIncident, as a minimum. In an embodiment; an administrative user mayinitiate a quick alert by selecting an icon corresponding to the desiredquick alert message by, for example, clicking on the icon with acomputer mouse. Upon administrative user selection of a quick alertmessage, the messaging subsystem 101 may retrieve predefined alertmessage text from a database, assemble one or more gateway alertmessages as specified in the database, and transfer the gateway alertmessage(s) to a predefined set of communication gateways, with nofurther user involvement. In an embodiment, in order to send a quickalert, no PIN code may be required.

In at least one embodiment, users may interact with the messagingsubsystem 101 via the web server 302. To access the web server 302, inan embodiment, a user may enter the URL associated with a web server 302of the messaging subsystem 101 into the address line of a World Wide Webbrowser application. Alternatively, a user may select an associatedhyperlink contained on an interactive page using a pointing device suchas a mouse or via keyboard commands. This causes an HTTP-formattedelectronic message to be transmitted to the web server 302 (afterInternet domain name translation to the proper IP address by an Internetproxy server) requesting a HTML or XML page. In response, the web server302 generates and transmits a corresponding interactive HTTP-formattedHTML or XML page to the requesting terminal, and establishes a session.The HTML or XML page may include data entry fields in which a user mayenter information such as the client's identification information,contact information, etc. The user may enter the prompted informationinto the appropriate data entry fields of the HTML or XML page and causethe terminal to transmit the entered information via interactive HTML orXML page to the web server 302. In response to receiving the usertransmitted page populated with user provided information, the webserver 302 may validate the received information by comparing theinformation received to corresponding stored data. This validation maybe requested by the web server 302 to be performed by a database serverby executing one or more validation scripts. If the database server 302determines that the information is valid, or in response to an entryrequest, then the web server 302 may generate and transmit a report pageto a terminal. In this way, page content for pages provided by the webserver 302 may be dynamic, while page frames may be statically defined.The dynamic and static information may be included in a database.

Thus, the systems and methods of the embodiments described herein mayprovide to emergency management agencies, first responders, government,near government and educational organizations and businesses the abilityto communicate to large groups of individuals quickly and reliably whenother means of communication such as, for example, land voice lines,cell voice communication, corporate e-mail are down or otherwise notavailable. In particular, such embodiments may provide the capabilityfor individuals and groups to be notified of emergency situationsthrough the delivery of text messages. Such messages may also describethe nature of the emergency, recommend next steps, and provide situationupdates. Furthermore, the systems and methods may also be used fornon-emergency daily communication to reach large numbers of users. Inaddition, the systems and methods may include multiple interconnectedmessaging subsystems in a message processing network in which authorizedsenders of one messaging subsystem at a first messaging center can sendalerts and notifications to users other messaging subsystems at othermessaging centers.

While embodiments of the invention have been described above, it isevident that many alternatives, modifications and variations will beapparent to those skilled in the art. Accordingly, the embodiments ofthe invention, as set forth above, are intended to be illustrative, andshould not be construed as limitations on the scope of the invention.Various changes may be made without departing from the spirit and scopeof the invention. Accordingly, the scope of the present invention shouldbe determined not by the embodiments illustrated above, but by theclaims appended hereto and their legal equivalents.

1. A communication method compromising: determining, using a messageengine, a set of destination devices for messages to be transferred toat least one destination group based on at least one of: a deliveryclass associated with users having a priority level associated with theat least one destination group, dynamic properties of the at least onedestination group, and users that match a set of search criteriaspecified by a sender; for destination devices having limited messagelength output capabilities, dropping any file attachments from themessage using a mail processor; calculating the number of pieces inwhich the message needs to be transferred based on a preferred number ofcharacters associated with a delivery method; generating the messagecontent for each piece; transferring an individual electronic messagefor each piece based on the number of destination devices targeted; andminimizing the number of outgoing connections to the mail processor bybundling together devices with the same electronic mail domain.